Ya Ya Ya Ya Ya Halla!!!!!

Thanks for the review, mikelal24. I have passed the place many times and wondered what it was, and I admit that when I see an establishment with a cutesy or trendy name, I tend to pass by on instinct.

where is this at?

mikelal - I agree with your report and I also hope they stay open. I think their problem is they're a nice restaurant in a fast food building.. folks dont know what to think. Maybe some kind of couponing or something would help...

OK Patron in P-burg has the same problem.

ajm - its on Alexis Rd. I believe the location used to be a Wendy's.

ajm, they are on Alexis Rd. between Jackman and Douglas. Like mom2 said, in the old Wendy's building.

That isn't far from my home. Now I'm going to have to try it out.

I live right down the street. We eat there pretty regularly. They've had a lot of turn over of cooking staff in the last year so it's different almost every time we go in. Almost always good though!

I have tried it and really enjoy the place and food. And the smoothies..yummy.

We had been planning on checking Ya Halla out, and thanks to this posting we decided to go last night. Great decision! The food is wonderful and so is the service!

We split the hummus with gyro meat appetizer, falafel appetizer, and the spinach pie entree with a side fatoush salad. Everything was great. The greek style spinach pie with cheese and phyllo was to die for. The serving was large, but since we split it...I think next time I'll have to order an entire one for myself!

Also the website doesn't advertise it, but they serve bottled beer. My husband tried a lebanese one that he liked quite a bit.

The price was good, too. We had all of the above food and two beers for about $32.00. For two people, we were more than stuffed by the time we left.

This will definitely become a regular place for us!

Awesome place, despite it's dreadful location!

Every time I say the name, I just want to throw my hands up and in a high pitched voice say "Ya Halla" ~\o/~

tlm I gotta agree with you. They have been through a couple different cooking staffs but the ones they got there now have been there a while. It's all good. The food there is simply awesome!

I think the 'you holler' you guys are thinking of is spelled 'ya holla', lol. Ya Halla may mean something in lebanese or whatever but I cant look it up right now. :)

They also have some awesome chicken soup!

Got some friends coming in from Dallas this weekend. We will for sure be going there lol. Plus they got the $1 domestic beers with dinners so it's gonna be a long fun night haha!

it has two meanings, 1 is hello, the other is welcome. :)

Ok, since everyone seemed so up on this place, my mom and I gave it a try last night.

Honestly, it was just OK.

I had the grape leaves, which were exceedingly dry. The house salad was OK, but nothing special. My mom had chicken soup, which she said was good, except that the noodles weren't homemade. Her fatoush was very sour.

The service was just OK, as well. I asked for a couple of lemon wedges for the grape leaves, and got dried-out lemon slices instead. We didn't get teaspoons (mom had coffee and I had iced tea), so had nothing with which to stir in cream and sugar.

Save your money, peeps, and go to the Grape Leaf Diner at McCord and Angola instead. Prices are the same, but the food and service are so much better.

I disagree, annie. We used to go to the Grape Leaf quite often, and we've found everything at Ya Halla to be better. The rice there has an interesting spice or herb - just a hint. I order fatoush when I feel like having a dressing-drenched sour salad, so I would expect it to be on the sour side in any restaurant.

Is it possible they had an inexperienced server for your visit? We've never had anything less than friendly, professional, attentive service. And the food has always been great.

In any restaurant, if my food arrived dried-out I would send it back to the kitchen. You're paying, you deserve to have an enjoyable meal.

As it happens, we went there for supper tonight. I was happy to see more people in the dining room than on previous visits.

They seem to have changed their rice recipe - it's now just OK. It used to be light, fluffy, and fabulous. Now it tastes like any other Mediterranean rice side dish around town. Still good enough to save the leftovers for lunch, though!

The chicken shawarma was absolutely wonderful: moist and very flavorful from the grill. The hummous had more tahini than usual, which gave it a nice hint of sesame flavor. The pitas were hot and fresh. We also had spanakopita (spinach pie), two enormous pieces. We could have easily split either entree, the servings are so generous.

I ordered fatoush (to check on the sourness level) and it tasted sour, like fatoush ought to. A little salt helped balance the flavors, but even so, fatoush is all about sourness.

I asked for extra lemon to see what would happen, and received a small bowl with several plump half-moon slices.

Chicken soup is a side order and costs about $3 (or free with a meal). The menu does not claim that home made noodles are part of the deal ... nor would I expect that in a side order/soup.

The menu says coupons are available on their website -- we'll definitely look for those, as we've had several buy-one-get-one-50% off suppers. For good quality food and enough leftovers for two or three lunches (I'm not kidding!) you can't beat the price.

Viola, it takes some balls to disagree with someone about a meal that you didn't participate in.

Whatever.

Whew! Such hostility...

First, I'm going to have to agree with viola on this one though.

This is what I have to say. There is no way that the grape leaves were dry. Those things are always so moist. No matter how long they get cooked they are always moist because the leaf will actually keep the moisture in. So I don't believe that part. For the chicken noodle soup, what do you expect? Do you want the restaurant to cup up and make their own noodles for it to be homemade? Yes they use the Homemade style noodles but for the noodles to actually be hand made at the restaurant, I wouldn't expect that. Everything else in there is hand made from scratch and I doubt the chicken noodle soup takes a priority. The house salad is always delicious. Did you try adding a little salt or pepper? That could have made it a little more better than just-OK. As for your mother's fatoush, the word you are looking for is tart, not sour. What makes the fatoush different is the tartness of it, which comes from the sumak that they use. It's supposed to be that way. If you don't like tartness, you should have ordered a house salad with ranch dressing.

As for the service. When you asked for lemons and got a few extra slices did you mention to the server that you would prefer wedges instead? And the same with the spoons. The server could have simply forgotten. I'm not defending her but it happens anywhere you go. Simply asking for wedges instead of the slices you got and spoons would have solved any issue you had.

It seems wrong to just bad mouth something because you seem a bit too nit picky. By knowing what you are ordering and by actually asking your server for things, like you're supposed to, I think you would have had a great experience. So educate yourself on the food, and look up sumak spice, and then come and do a review.

I'm sorry if I sound like a total jerk but you're coming off as a complete you know what. I'm going in tonight with my friends coming in with Dallas and will see how sour the fatoush is. I'll actually ask for some lemon slices and see what they give me... I know they won't disappoint. I'll keep you guys updated.

Once again, you weren't there. I love Mediterranean food, have been eating it for years, and was looking forward to a good meal. Ya Halla didn't provide it.

The grape leaves were so dry that I had to ask twice for lemon. My original request was for lemon wedges. I got dried out slices. When the stuffed grape leaves are crumbling, that is never a good sign.

The house salad was just ok. The soup was just OK. I didn't taste my mom's fatoush, but she ate barely two bites of it. A good server would have noticed this and asked if something were wrong. That never happened.

I'm sorry if I sound like a total jerk but you're coming off as a complete you know what. I'm going in tonight with my friends coming in with Dallas and will see how sour the fatoush is. I'll actually ask for some lemon slices and see what they give me...

I'm coming off as someone who expected better than what she recived.

Ask for lemon wedges, like I did, and see what you get. And with any luck, your friends from out of town won't hold this experience against you.

And by the way, why are you taking it so personally that I didn't care for this restaurant? People are entitled to their own opinions, good or bad, wouldn't you agree?

Or are you an owner or employee of this place? In that case, full disclosure, please.

In defense of both reviews, me being of Mediterranean decent, its very easy to like one place's dish over another's. My grandmother and aunt would make the same exact dish but would taste totally different. it just depends, IMHO; and the rice is real easy to mess up, i still can't get it right.

Now I might try this place if they served Tiropita! I love spanakopita, but i like mine made with leaks better than with spinach. 8-)

One more thing, if anyone knows of a place that has Tiropita on their menu PLEASE let me know! Thanks!

I am not taking it personal. You are just making it seem like you absolutely got the worst meal and service out there, that's all. I do not work there nor am I an owner of the place. I simply love the place. I have never had a problem there. Maybe you did have a bad day or a bad server or something. Give the place a second shot with a different server or something. I don't know.

Well took the family and friends out to Ya Halla Friday night and like always, it was awesome! I ordered the filet mignon with hummus and a baked potato and the wife ordered the grape leaves with rice and a house salad. I also ordered a cup of chicken noodle soup. My buddies each ordered a NY strip with baked potatoes and greek salads. The filet was exquisite! It was perfectly cooked! The chicken noodle soup was very good as well. The noodles were more of the curly twisted ones and not the homemade style, either way, delicious. I took a bite from the wife's house salad and grape leaves. First, the house salad was delicious! The dressing is perfect. The grape leaves were next. Very moist. I don't know if Annie just got a bad batch or something but they were super good. I also asked for "extra lemon" for my chicken noodle soup. I got 4 large lemon wedges that were super juicy. No problem. My friends enjoyed the NY Strips and would def. come again. Our server was very attentive and really took care of us. We also enjoyed their beer special where we drank quite a bit. So take it from this picky guy, this place rocks! We will be back some time next week :)

Mike, thank you for pointing out that when it comes to noodles, "home made" is a shape, not a condition of being put together by human hands.

Annie, I apologize for unleashing the hounds on you by suggesting that your mother had unreasonable expectations about a side order of soup.

For $15.99, if the filet is that good, that might be the best steak deal in town. Much fancier restaurants charge in the $20 range for filet with all the trimmings. We will definitely try it sometime.

Mike, have you visited either of the Al Saher restaurants?

Viola, I've never tried either of the Al Saher restaurants. Where are those located? How's the food? Comparable to Ya Halla?

I have eaten at Al Saher 2 on central, The food is usualy good and the service is getting better. I hope they stick around because they make a really good gyro and the prices are reasonable. the few problems i have had have been taken care of promptly.

How come no one ever gets in arguments with me? I've been around awhile, it's okay...I could use a good fight. I wanted to point out that I've been eating at Ya Halla since it opened because I live so very close to it. The food & the service can be wildly inconsistent. I also have gotten some bad food there. As a matter of fact just last week we got the oddest order of falafal, so spice at all. But, doesn't matter, I'll keep going back. It's easy and comfortable and not expensive.
Oh, and I adore the servers because they are so friendly, and just so darn cute!

The original Al Saher is at 1150 S. McCord Rd in Holland. We used to eat there after seeing cheap movies at the Springfield cinema. Everything was always very tasty, and they served a special mint tea (sweetened, in little glass cups). Sometimes we didn't even ask for it, they would just bring the tea around to everyone in the place. Very friendly.

I've been to the second Saher west on Central also (past the Meijer's). The food's still good, and the decor is very bright and modern. If we didn't have other choices closer to home, we'd go there more often.

Tim, you can always start an argument about Mexican food ... feelings run muy caliente on that topic ;-)

Anniecski- I appreciate your post. It's strange to me that people are arguing with you over your opinion.

Careful, slowsol... You're about to start another flame war!

Viola - I love the mexican food threads! I also wanted to point out that my name is actually Tracy, and T L M. The font always makes it look like my name is Tim. I am in fact a 47 year old woman. I wish I could change my username to Tracy but I think someone else had it when I signed up.
Hmm, now I want El Vaquero.

I wish I could change my username to Tracy...

Alright, take a look at your own 'contributions' for a second. No, make that an hour. You fail completely to write anything controversial or definitive and you're neurotic enough to worry about your on line identity and your user ID, then you wonder why no one argues with you? Get a grip, or even a tenuous hold. There isn't anything to argue with.

Then there's Anniecski who is bored enough to write about a mediocre meal complimented by inferior service that she and her mother failed to enjoy and thick enough to be surprised at the rejoinders of incredulity, disbelief and contradictions that followed.

Look Anniecski, what's barely mediocre to you is not necessarily mediocre to others. It's a judgement call - see? Consider that your detractors see nothing unusual in you asking your server (in name only) for lemon and receiving dried out slices rather than the freshly cut wedges that any person of even passably discriminating taste would expect by way of course.

In 1999 I was working a short term contract in Hannibal, OH, right on the border with WV. I saw a place that advertised fine dining and so went out for dinner, anticipating a nice meal in quiet surroundings. Big mistake. Big, big mistake. My idea of fine dining and theirs are two radically different things.

Hello guys! This is my first time on here. My name is Mo and I am the owner of Ya Halla Restaurant. First and foremost I'd like to thank everyone for their kind words. We've been in business for just over 2 years now and let me tell you, it isn't easy. I'd like to start off by apologizing to anyone that hasn't gotten the best service. We strive to make everyone's visit the best visit there is and from a couple people's comments that I've read I have realized that that hasn't happened. To viola, I'd like to talk to you about this matter. Do you have an email address that I can contact you? Also the same thing with tlm0000. What's your email address? I'd like to get to know more information about your experience because heres the thing, to make something better, you have to mess up, which is what we have done. To make it better, we learn and fix these mistakes for the next person. If you guys can shoot me your email address to info@yahallarestaurant.com I'll get back to you guys as soon as I can.

To viola and to Mikelal24, I appreciate the kind words. We love having you guys come over. Mike I'm glad you brought your friends over on Friday night. You guys were a fun crowd.

Thanks again guys for all of your comments.

MadJack - Thank you! I feel so much better now. :)

YaHallaRestaurant - Hi Mo, thanks for your concern. At least on my account no worries, I'm there almost every week for lunch with my daughter, or I bring in the guys from work.I think I've introduced at least a dozen people over the last two years to the joys of Ya Halla at lunch. We love your lunch staff, and we always let them know when the changes are good, or the changes are bad. I'm particularly partial to the Lentil soup, so just don't change that too much.

Mo, it is Anniecski who deserves another chance at your restaurant. She and her mother were less than satisfied with the food & service during their visit.

Also, it's great that you found these comments and have responded! Thanks.

"There is no way that the grape leaves were dry. Those things are always so moist. No matter how long they get cooked they are always moist because the leaf will actually keep the moisture in. So I don't believe that part."

Bwaaahahaha!! Mike, as the child of Mediteranean grandparents, grape leaves can get fucked up badly by anyone who is not paying attention when making them. Rolled, filled leaves can be cooked in stovetop steamers, requiring little attention. If they are steamed in the oven, there should be enough sauce or broth to keep them covered while cooking, or the leaves will become dry. If the meat was dry, there could be many reasons: the meat was overcooked, or too much rice was in the meat. Yeah, believe me, I've had some pretty bad dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) in my life, mostly at festivals or a few restaurants. Fortunately, my family has made this dish over several generations and it's good every time. Even picking the grapeleaves can be a challenge to some. I have several grape vines growing all over my yard, and if you choose to pick them to make dolmathes, pick them at the end of June and early July, when you have a very narrow window of opportunity to pick the light, tender leaves. After that, the leaves become tough and no amount of cooking will make them as tender as they should be.

"...its very easy to like one place's dish over another's. My grandmother and aunt would make the same exact dish but would taste totally different."

I hear ya, tm2. When I go to the Greek American festival, I am always surprised how different the grape leaves taste than what I'm used to. Some use alspice in the meat, which I am not crazy about. Yet others love it like that. Same with avgolemono soup (chicken lemon soup). Some restaurants serve it with a thick broth, while others perfer that the broth be thinner.

As far as Anniecski's review, I appreciate it. She and her mom were not happy with the food, and I am glad she posted her feelings about it. I have no doubt her food tasted bad. Why would she lie? Whether good or bad, it's a review. Not sure why she is getting beat up about it. I'm sure she would have preferred a pleasant experience. I also appreciate mikelal24's review. Nothing draws customers to a restaurant like a good review, but reviews that are not good can cause any business to lose customers. I think Anniecski should give it another try, and if it's not good again, I would ask for the manager or owner, and let them know. They should make it right in some way. Now I have to try it myself. Very hungry.

Just made my weekly plan for lunch there today with my daughter.

bikerdude, very cute...

Also, Mo glad I got to meet you the other night. You're a funny guy. We enjoyed dinner and will be back again this weekend :) And yes, I'm going to agree with viola, Anniecski, you should give the place another shot :)

bikerdude, very cute...

Also, Mo glad I got to meet you the other night. You're a funny guy. We enjoyed dinner and will be back again this weekend :) And yes, I'm going to agree with viola, Anniecski, you should give the place another shot :)

Hey guys! Just wanted to update our fans that we are now open on Sundays. So many people wanted us to open so we finally gave in :) Heres a list of our updated hours:

Sunday: 11am-8pm
Monday-Thursday: 11am-9pm
Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 4pm-10pm

Thanks guys! Hope to see you in soon!

We tried it for the first time tonight, we will be going back for more. the food was great and the service was too.

i think i will make a point of picking something up tomorrow to support your new hours!

So, I took the woman here for Valentines Day. Must say, it was great as usual. They were running an amazing special. An appetizer, 2 dinners, and a dessert for $29! I couldn't risist and considering the tough economy, this deal was great. The place was packed and it was nice to see a bunch of new faces. We got a hummus with chicken plate as our appetizer. I got the filet dinner with french onion soup and a baked potato while the misses got the shish tawook with rice and a greek salad. I must say guys, the filet was amazing! I can easily compare it to a Mancy's or JAlexanders when it comes to the taste. Honestly I think it tasted better. It was so tender and just fresh! I loved it! We also got a chocolate cake to share which was awesome too! I looked and saw that the price of the filet on a regular day was only 16 bucks. Very cheap considering it comes with 2 sides. Try it out people!

I'm so sorry I didn't know about the Valentine's Day special. It sounds like a real bargain for that price. Glad to hear it was busy!

Got to bump this. I've never been a huge Mediterranean food fan, but the bro was in town so we ended up at Ya Halla yesterday for lunch after QQ Kitchen was too full. He's retired from the Air Force and has eaten all over the world and he has turned us on to so many new foods with his enthusiasm. I had never had schwarma before so I ordered it, and it was fantastic! The toastiness of the pita and all the flavors just made me so happy! We also had hummus with roast peppers and an order of falafel and it was all very tasty to my newbie tongue. We're going back Thursday night for dinner with our daughter to turn her on to the place, lol. Thanks for all the info, the steak sounds great but I can't get schwarma out of my head, so I'll probably get that again. off to check for coupons, thanks for that, too! :)

How did you end up there after QQ? :) those two restaurants are nowhere near each other!

As I left Home Depot at Westgate last evening, en route to the northernmost Secor Rd. exit, I drove through the section of parking lot near QQ. That section of parking lot was more jammed than I've seen since the days of The Open Closet and there was literally a line outside waiting to get in to QQ. The place is a real hit - and it deserves to be. I hope they remain as they are and don't do the "San Marcos Expansion" routine wherein both food and service go down hill.

Ya Ya is the Greek term for Grandmother.

Isn't it Yla Yla?

Upso, we turned north on Secor, racking our brains after being so disappointed in not getting any bacon kim chee fried rice. I knew there was a Thai place at Sylvania and Secor, but we decided against it since we had had Pho Vietnam the day before and he eats Thai at least twice a week, lol. My sis in law is from the Laskey/Secor area so we drove up that way and turned right on Alexis. A voila! :P

Need to try this place along with J-cups. Maybe I will kill 2 birds with one stone by getting it all togo in one night next week or so. (Watch out for my response)

@Foodie: Tried QQ kitchen the food wasn't bad but not something I would rave about. Either way I am happy for the owners since they found a niche market. (toledo has very little exposure to asian food in general and taste palate is not developed in this area.)

On the downside I won't eat there again because of the MSG.

I agree with EF about QQ being so-so. Therefore I am looking forward to EF's review of J-cups which I never heard of before this thread started. I am very hopeful that ZaZa at Secor & Exexutive Parkway will become a new favorite. I hope it is on par with the Village Idiot's pizza. I rarely go because the bar scene (and smell) is not for me.

As for Chinese, I like the dim sum at New Empire but would like to find other choices when dim sum is not available. I fear that good Asian cuisine in the area is as rare as good Mexican cuisine.

IMHO, there is no Dim Sum in this area worth consuming - unless there's a restaurant offering it that I'm unaware of.

Got food poisoning not once, but twice from New Empire. Haven't been there in years and haven't any plans to ever return.

Good Dim Sum requires a trip to A2 or a couple of the Detroit suburbs.

curious to see what the people who say QQ is just "so so" ordered! i've had nothing but fantastic food there.... BUT i've only ordered the weirder stuff.

Same here upso. Last trip, I ordered the Mapo Tofu - it was amazing and unlike anything I've ever had. However, if you order it, share it with someone or plan on some take home. The serving is huge.

Foodie, have you tried the dim sum at Asia City Restaurant in Ypsilanti? I have not yet but have heard that it is supposed to be very good and it's on the "to check out list."
http://www.asiacityrestaurant.com/

Funny you mention that one Danneskjold. It is also at the top of my "to try" list. The owner of the Fortune Inn over on McCord & Central told me about it and said it was "the place" that Asians from this area go to for Dim Sum.

It's also my understanding that right next door to the restaurant is a very large Asian market - same ownership as the restaurant.

I'll let you know if I get there soon.

Sounds good Foodie. I'll shoot a post on here if I make it up there too. I found out about it through a similar channel as you did.

I ordered a lot of things from the menu when I tried it. Nothing is weird since what they have on the menu is not new to me. The weird things to me is the common chinese food you would think is normal which I didn't and wouldn't even order/try or have tried.

Have to agree with Foodie on Dim Sum since toledo doesn't have it and lacks it and I could see why. Dim sum is something toledo people might be interested but not really impressed with in general. Going to Michigan/Canada/Chicago/Cincinnati would be the closest places for it and the best bet.

Funny you mentioned Asia City Restaurant in Ypsilanti. It has been open for years now and the Dim sum was pretty good when they first started for the distance traveled from toledo, but they have gone down in quality a bit but still not bad.

I'd agree EF - I don't think true Dim Sum would have a broad appeal in this area. Perhaps it's best that I have to travel for it. Otherwise, I'd likely consume far too much of it.

Have you tried Shangri-La in West Bloomfield by any chance? You can pretty much get it all with their Dim Sum - octopus, crispy duck and chicken feet to name a few. They also have a location (though I've not been to it yet) in Detroit - in the Midtown (art district) area.

Great Lake in A2 used to be very good but the place has gone so far down hill in the last few years that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I ordered a lot of things from the QQ menu when I tried it. Nothing is weird since what they have on the menu is not new to me. The weird things to me is the common chinese food you would think is normal which I didn't and wouldn't even order/try or have tried.

Have to agree with Foodie on Dim Sum since toledo doesn't have it and lacks it and I could see why. Dim sum is something toledo people might be interested but not really impressed with in general. Going to Michigan/Canada/Chicago/Cincinnati would be the closest places for it and the best bet.

Funny you mentioned Asia City Restaurant in Ypsilanti. It has been open for years now and the Dim sum was pretty good when they first started for the distance traveled from toledo, but they have gone down in quality a bit but still not bad.

Foodie, I'm sorry that you got burned twice at New Empire and I completely understand why you won't go back. I've never had a problem there. I've been to Shangri-La in midtown Detroit. IMHO, it was no better than New Empire and not worth the trip. The place is small with small tables which makes ordering dim sum a hassle. The menu didn't differ much from New Empire either.

Foodie, yes I have tried actually both the in West Bloomfield and the one in Detroit (Midtown) it's actually not bad for the area. (I prefer the Midtown one because it's closer and taste of the food seems a little better at times compared to the one from west bloomfield.

The problem with dim sum at times is that depending on what you eat it can be good/bad/or whatever and Dim Sum being such a big variety of menu or items at times it's hard to decided if the place is really really good, but over all it's pretty good.

If you want me to compare Asian City vs Shangri-la well when Asian city first open then I would say they win, but right now I would consider it a toss up.

But for the travel time and access I would have to lean toward Asian City.

Well, we've decided to go to Asian City this weekend - it actually had been penciled in on the agenda - so we'll see. And, you are right - we've been to Shangri-La in WB when the Dim Sum has been outstanding and at other times - not so much.

I can say the same for Kim's Gardens in Novi. Usually very good - but not always. Probably depends on the chef.

JnJ: Yes, sadly, New Empire can't even be on my "maybe" list. Same for Bob Evans. Got food poisoning from the old Alexis Rd. location more than 25 years ago and I've not been able to go to one since.

Foodie, I am looking forward to your Asian City review. I hope you will whet my appetite to try a new place for dim sum.

Pho Vietnam has dim sum. I've never tried it anywhere but I have a cookbook about it, lol, would love to go with someone who knows what the heck is going on!

Pho Vietnam has Dim Sum??!! Wow, I'd have never guessed that.

Turns out my SO will be on call this weekend so we won't be leaving town - which means no Asian City tomorrow :(. So, perhaps we'll check out Pho's offering. Thanks for the heads up.

i really want to try it, but i would suggest calling ahead.

they DO have dim sum, but from the sounds of it it's not very consistant
my wife and her friends went to try it recently, but they weren't serving it because the guy that makes it wasn't in.

http://www.phovietnam.us/dimsum.html

Thanks for the heads up on that upso. I plan on calling them when they open today then will confirm tomorrow before we go.

Couldn't even imagine how or why a vietnamese place would do dim sum. I could see vietnamese place doing thai because they are similar in many ways, but this is like Italian restaurant selling chinese food.

(Either way if you try it Foodie tell us. My guess is most of the menu items are not made in house, but rather you can buy from asian markets and not made from scratch.)

I've been to the Shangri-La in Midtown a number of times and I've never been remarkably impressed. That said, I've been there a number of times and I'll probably be there a number of times in the future.

I called Pho. The gent who answered I assume is the chef. When I asked if they'd be serving Dim Sum tomorrow and if there are specific hours for it -many Dim Sum joints offer it between 11am and 3pm.

He asked if I had his menu. I did. He said to decide what you want from the menu, call him with your order and tell him what time you'll be there because it is too time consuming to make it to order.

Being a small one or two person operation, I can appreciate that - though I suspect you're on to something with your comment above EF - especially since I know you can purchase all of the items on Pho's Dim Sum menu from Lai Lai Asian Market at Westgate.

I'd rather satisfy my craving where it's done daily and made to order or served from carts wheeled through the restaurant.

Greater Toledo Restaurant Aficionados Group went to Ya Halla tonight remembering what was posted here about it. We had a great time and enjoyed the food. I personally will go back when itching for some Mediterranean Flair.